Transamerica’s Parent to Lay Off 500 : Insurance: The action by TIG Holdings includes 149 employees in the San Fernando Valley.

In the first step in its promised restructuring, TIG Holdings Inc., the New York-based parent of troubled Transamerica Insurance Group in Woodland Hills, said Monday that it is laying off 500 of its 4,022 employees nationwide.

Included in the layoffs are 149 employees of operations in the San Fernando Valley, primarily at the Woodland Hills offices but also at smaller facilities in Chatsworth, Glendale and Camarillo.

TIG said the layoffs follow the loss of 228 jobs since December through attrition and the company’s recent decision to shut down its Completion Bond Co. subsidiary, which guaranteed that independently produced movies would be finished on time and within budget.

The company said it expects to decide where to relocate its insurance business by the fall. TIG said it will maintain a “significant presence” in California, but does not expect to retain the current Transamerica Insurance headquarters at Warner Center in Woodland Hills. Jon Rotenstreich, TIG’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that the moves are necessary because the company’s rate of expenses is substantially higher than the industry average. “These changes are necessary to improve operating profitability and to maintain our solid financial strength,” he said.

TIG, which was spun off in an initial public stock offering in April from its former parent, financial services giant Transamerica Corp., said it expects to record a restructuring charge of up to $75 million in the second quarter ending June 30. The charge would cover the costs of employee separations, terminating leases, relocation expenses and other costs, it said.

After losing $126 million on $2.02 billion in revenue in 1992, TIG recently reported that its first-quarter results were worse than some analysts had expected: a $44.8-million loss, compared to a $2.6-million loss in the year-ago period.